District CIO

The Socorro Independent School District in El Paso, Texas, has added a new communications tool called Anonymous Alerts, allowing its 44,000 students to quickly, easily, and anonymously report urgent information to school officials across their campuses.

At East Noble School Corporation in Indiana, every kindergartner and first grader uses an iPod Touch, students in grades 2-4 learn on iPads, and students in grades 5-12 are given Lenovo laptops. Here, textbooks are a thing of the past.

A new report from the Alabama Commission on Higher Education shows many college-bound high school graduates are still not prepared for the rigors of university mathematics or English. Of the 23,019 graduates in 2012 who enrolled in Alabama public colleges or universities, 33 percent tested into remedial math and/or English classes, according to the report.

Tennessee manufacturing representatives are happy local schools are helping build a pool of future workers with knowledge in multiple engineering disciplines. Christy Brasher, an area manager at the Bridgestone tire plant in La Vergne, said her company regularly deals with a lack of qualified applicants.

William Rhinamin, the director of technology for Steubenville City Schools, was arrested after he was named in a four-count indictment by Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine. The 53-year-old Rhinamin is facing several charges, including tampering with evidence, a third degree felony; obstructing justice, a fifth degree felony; obstructing official business, a second degree misdemeanor and perjury, a third degree felony.

My courses are demanding. I expect students to read and write daily, to meet online after school for concept and skills reviews, and to practice using skills that will help them in college and career. They view my academy and computer science courses as college-level, and want others to view them that way too. Unfortunately, the courses I teach aren't a part of the core curriculum. Instead, they're seen by many as electives and therefore expendable.

With only 24 percent of U.S. eighth-graders writing as well as they should, many educators are looking to online curricula for help. Gayle Mathis, a seventh-grade English teacher at Hickman County Middle School in Tennessee, uses SAS Curriculum Pathways Writing Navigator, which is provided at no cost to educators and students.

Apple’s iOS 7 was supposed to make it easier for schools to manage the iPads that are becoming increasingly common in the classroom. But for some, the latest version of the mobile operating system is proving to be a bit of a headache.